Sunday, February 12, 2012

Failed Valentines and Hiking the Pumphouse Loop

Sunday began with a failed attempt at making paw-print Valentines.

Making Valentines is boring
I'd rather go for a hike

This is what happens when you make Valentines
Dad thought I looked like I had walked through the set of a slasher movie

Even after mom cleaned my paw, it still had a pinkish tinge

See?  Still pink
I can't possibly go out in public with pink paws


Luckily, the day improved significantly.  The humans bundled themselves up, and we went on a family hike.  We hiked the Pumphouse Loop, from Texas Beach to the old Pumphouse, then back along the trail that runs behind Maymont, back to the Texas Beach parking lot.  (See Texas Beach / Pumphouse Loop.)

The trail from Texas Beach heading west is one of our favorite trails in the city because it runs along a beautiful stretch of the river.

See why we like this trail?

Early in the hike, I got a bad case of the zoomies.











Then I stopped to look for creatures in the river

Is it too cold for river creatures?

I decided that a dip in the river would feel good and might help clean my paw

  Yep, 37 degrees F and I still want to go in the river

I'm a river beast

Then we explored the ruins


I wonder what this building used to be

There were good smells on the trail

And we enjoyed the trail along Maymont

We saw several great blue herons fishing in the canal

Looking backwards at the canal running along Maymont

Me and dad


Caught mid-shake



 But when we got home, I had to take a bath

Miserably clean post-bath


6 comments:

  1. I hope the bath at least got the pink off your paw! I got so excited when you said you hiked Texas Beach, because I thought that meant you were near me in Texas! Then Mom showed me the map. I think that's a very misleading name.

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    1. I'm sorry to get your hopes up, Casey. It's called Texas Beach because it's at the end of Texas Avenue, but it's in Richmond, Virginia. And the name is misleading in more ways than one. There's only a "beach" when the river is low, and even then, calling it a beach is an extremely liberal interpretation of the word "beach". But it's still one of my favorite places to hike and I can't believe we have such beauty and wildness right in the city!

      Yes, thankfully - between my swims in the river and my bath - the pink came off my paw. (How embarrassing!)

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  2. Now, Garth - I think if any mandog could carry off pink paws, it would be YOU! Sorry abouts having to make those Valentines, though. Moms come up with some KERAZY ideas sometimes.

    What a super duper great hike you got to go on! But I think you're a little cuckoo for going in the cooooold water. BRRRRRR! But I guess that's what makes you an Adventure Dog, huh?

    Wiggles & WAgs,
    Mayzie

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    1. Thank you Mayzie. I suppose I could pull off pink paws. But I agree about moms having KERAZY ideas -- my mom seems to get them all the time!

      To me the water felt great! I have LOTS more fur than you do, so it keeps me warm. I don't think I've ever been cold. I'm part polar bear, you know.

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  3. Hi Garth, super adventure as always- I am pretty sure I already saw this post (sometimes I visit and don't comment) and the first time there were not so many missing pictures. I am a little zuzzy cuz I maybe saw pics on facebook but think I would have remembered if tons were missing. Also now they look like boxes with question arks not just empty spaces so I think something different is going on than I mentioned in DWB group.... Hmmmm

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    1. This is the post I was talking about in my DWB post. Originally it had all the photos and now it doesn't. I hate that it left out my zoomie photos! I think mom is doing something wrong with downloading so she is going to try various different ways and see what the problem is. (Gosh, I'm so glad all the photos were there for my Mango Minster post! That would have been disastrous!)

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